World’s first beer pipeline now open

A Belgian city has figured out a smart way of transporting the drink to its people

Because nothing should come in the way of fresh beer. Photo: Shutterstock.com

The Belgian city of Bruges has an unusual problem: its cobblestone streets are too narrow for large beer trucks to pass through. Determined that nothing should come in the way of fresh beer, a brewery in the heart of the city has laid an underground beer pipeline.

The 3,276m-long, 34m-deep pipeline connects the production facility of De Halve Maan, a 100-year-old brewery, to its bottling plant. This, the brewers claim, is aimed at reducing truck-related traffic snarls, which hold up beer deliveries in the city.

The line runs under historic canals, the underground parking at Zand Square, and city ramparts, among others.

Bruge’s beer lovers now have one long lifeline.

(Updated on 27 September 2016)

And if you want to savour some of the best beer in your own city, here’s a list of India’s top microbreweries:

Bengaluru

ToitThanks partly to its memorable name; Toit has become legendary even outside its home city as the beers are what truly seal its reputation. The range alone is mesmerising – the website lists six standards (of which one is the gorgeous, silky Dark Knight stout) and a seemingly endless list of seasonal and experimental specials that come and go, including a chilli-infused ale, a passion fruit-infused ale, an ale that uses millet and jaggery, and a Belgian-style rye ale.

Bengaluru

Windmills Craftworks With a beautiful jazz theatre and fine dining touches to the restaurant, Windmills is one of the more expensive brewpubs around, especially for Bengaluru. Nonetheless, the beer is enough to keep regulars coming back, even in a city with plenty of competitively priced alternatives. In addition to the standards (a stout, a helles, a blonde, and an IPA), you’ll usually find a couple of specials here on rotation, all of which are delectable.

Bengaluru

Arbor Brewing CompanyArbor is an American craft brewery originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and they possibly serve the widest range of beers you’ll find at any brewpub in India, with around nine different beers on tap at any given point of time. Along with several of their home standards, like their hefeweizen and their flagship IPA, they’ve also thrown in a few twists – for example, their “ChaiPA” and their Garam Masala Pale Ale (much better than it sounds!). The standout, however, has to be their Belgian tripel, a big, strong, malt-heavy but very drinkable style that’s hard to find anywhere else in the country.

Gurgaon

Quaff In spite of getting into the microbrewery movement really early, Gurgaon remained a bit of a craft beer wasteland where “fresh beer” was merely a gimmick and where you’d find similar-tasting and mostly mediocre beer at almost every brewpub. Quaff, however, barely a few months old, has dramatically raised the game here. There’s the inevitable wheat beer for the masses of course, but the blonde ale is surprisingly complex and delicious, the dunkelweizen is dark, rich, and fruity, and the IPA has the gentle bitterness of an English IPA but the citrusy, grapefruit character of American Cascade hops. There’s even a chance that they’ll soon start a cider and a porter.

A photo posted by Factory by Sutra (@factorybysutra) on Jun 17, 2016 at 2:07am PDT

Gurgaon

Factory by Sutra Probably the best thing about Factory is that along with being one of Gurgaon’s better brewpubs, it’s also a great co-working space during the day, with an abundance of plug points, free Wi-Fi, and music that’s not too loud or intrusive. The brews that you can use to lubricate your workday include a malty red ale and a mildly roasty black ale that’s almost a stout.

Gurgaon

Vapour Bar ExchangeVapour now has four outlets in Gurgaon – the original Vapour Pub & Brewery, the Vapour Grill, and most recently the two Vapour Bar Exchanges, which are what we recommend, both for the beer and for the insanely low prices. Ignore the IPA – disappointingly, it lacks all bitterness and character – but try the hefeweizen and the stout. If you’re feeling adventurous, you might also want to try the recently launched mango mint beer.

Mumbai

The Barking Deer Brewpub The city’s first brewpub got off to an unsteady start – after the long wait for a license came a disappointingly run-of-the-mill range of beer styles, frequent shortages, and inconsistent quality – now however, the Deer is among the best brewpubs in the country. You’ll regularly find six different beers on tap, including staples like the Belgian wit and the IPA, and more experimental styles like the chocolate stout, the masala chai ale, the salty, refreshing gose (from brewmaster Gregory Kroitzsch’s hometown in Germany), and possibly one of the most delicious beers you’ll ever taste, the rich, malty, absolutely divine, GoT tribute, Ale of Heroes.

Mumbai

Gateway Brewing Company Thanks to Gateway, no matter where in Mumbai you are today, a pint of craft beer is probably no more than a couple of kilometres away from you. Their unique model has them running a microbrewery but not a brewpub, and instead distributing their range of beers to over 30 pubs across the city. Perhaps because of the compulsions of catering to such a large audience, Gateway’s range is relatively small and safe, but the beers are fantastic, especially their intensely bitter IPAs and their rich, malty, yeasty dunkelweizen.

Mumbai

The White Owl Trudging endlessly through the One Indiabulls Centre buildings to get to the Owl doesn’t quite put you in the mood for a pint, but make the trek anyway. All their beers are elegant and restrained, with a perfect balance of flavours, but the Torpedo (American pale ale) and the Shadow (English porter) are the standouts. Standard beer glassware would probably do more justice to their finely balanced brews, but the jars they choose to serve them in, with the little owl logo on them, are admittedly a charming touch.

Pune

DoolallySomething of a craft beer institution in India, Bombay residents have been making the pilgrimage to Doolally's first home at the Corinthians resort in Kondhwa, Pune for years. In 2015 however, Doolally opened two taprooms in Mumbai, where the beer finally takes the spotlight without needing to wrestle for attention with spirits and bottled beers or with DJs and Bollywood nights. And what incredible beer it is. In particular, try the oatmeal stout, the coffee porter, the weizenbock, and the mango cider.

Pune

Independence Brewing Co. Their slogan is “Independence from boring beers,” and they take it pretty damn seriously. You’ll find some of the most exciting and delicious beers in the country here, including a sour ale with sweet peaches, a creamy, nitrogenated chocolate-vanilla stout, a light and refreshing four-grain saison, and a stunning barleywine aged with bourbon-soaked oak chips. Independence too sends its beers to Mumbai, where you’ll find them at Woodside Inn.

Chandigarh

Hops N Grains Started by an Australia-returned MBA and ex-sweet shop owner, Hops N Grains is Chandigarh’s oldest microbrewery and also arguably, its most popular. The brewpub seems to have a special fondness for fruit beers – they do a fairly decent pale ale and dunkelweizen, but their most interesting brews include a red berry beer, a strawberry beer, and a wildly popular green apple beer.

Chandigarh

Malt & Co Located at The Piccadilly Hotel, this is one of the newest brewpubs in the country, and in spite of their strange attempt to position themselves as “Chandigarh’s first microbrewery” years after the city got its first and even fifth one, it’s well worth a visit. The interiors are a charming mix of old-world elegance and modern, cheerful colours, and they brew a fairly intrepid range of beers for Haryana, including a rather gimmicky green beer that seems quite popular, a braggot (a hybrid of beer and mead), and a doppelbock. The food menu makes great use of the beer too, with ale-soaked chicken brochettes, a beer-and-cheddar soup, and several more.